


Best Friend

by r0kudaime



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, Hopeful Ending, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-23 19:13:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20345272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/r0kudaime/pseuds/r0kudaime
Summary: Kyungsoo waits every day for Chanyeol.





	Best Friend

Day 12

Kyungsoo was floating, the ocean making gentle swells around him. At first he thought he was alone, but once he turned his head he saw a familiar figure in the water to his left. Chanyeol’s eyes were closed, as if asleep, but Kyungsoo could see the way that his limbs were moving just so in the water to keep himself afloat.

It was peaceful, being under the night sky with just the sound of the ocean in his ears. Kyungsoo was reluctant to break the silence, but he knew that he wanted, no needed to say something to his best friend. Before he could though he saw Chanyeol drifting away, causing panic to seize up inside of Kyungsoo.

“Chanyeol! Chanyeollie, wait, come back!” he called out, desperately swimming after his friend, though no matter how hard he kicked his feet or moved his arms, Kyungsoo couldn’t get any closer to Chanyeol.

The ocean seemed to swallow Chanyeol whole, body disappearing under a rising crest of a wave, and Kyungsoo woke in a cold sweat.

Day 23

Kyungsoo was spread out on the hood of Chanyeol’s car, parked in its usual spot between the beach cottage the latter shared with his sister, and the sand itself. The sun was beating down on Kyungsoo, but he didn’t care. Didn’t even notice. He was too busy waiting, staring up at the few clouds in the sky and the sound of gulls and waves in his ears.

What was taking him so long? Kyungsoo had been waiting for Chanyeol since the early morning, and it was just about to be three o’clock now. But if there was one thing Kyungsoo was good at, it was being patient, especially when it came to his best friend. Chanyeol had always been one to be late, to lose track of time playing his instruments or wandering along the beach, and Kyungsoo was never one to mind. They were inseparable, so waiting a little longer was worth all the time in the world to Kyungsoo.

Distantly he hears the door of the cottage creak open, and Kyungsoo turns his head, expecting to see Chanyeol but is met with the sight of Yoora instead.

“Kyungsoo, how long have you been out here?” Yoora asked, confusion and a hint of concern lacing her voice.

“Woke up around seven, couldn’t get back to sleep so I came here to wait for Chanyeol,” he answered, sitting up straight and blinking the sun spots out his eyes.

He missed the pitying look that Yoora shot him, and her tone is much gentler when she speaks again. “It’s hot, how about you come inside and have some water and food?”

Kyungsoo’s brows scrunch at the suggestion, but he figures that he is thirsty, not really hungry but he can’t turn down Yoora. Not when her puppy eyes exactly match Chanyeol’s. And beside, Kyungsoo didn’t need to wait on his friend’s car, he could always see him inside his own home.

“Okay, I’ll come in. Do you know when Chanyeol will be back?” he asked, sliding off the car and accepting the arm slung over his shoulder as Yoora lead him into the cottage.

“I don’t know, Kyungsoo. But you don’t need to wait on his car every day for him, okay?”

“No, I think it’s a good idea if I do. If he wants to go somewhere he’ll see me waiting and then take me with him,” Kyungsoo shook his head at the thought, stepping inside the familiar home, forgetting about his silent vigil for long enough to enjoy the company of Yoora.

Day 39

Kyungsoo was waiting on the roof of Chanyeol’s car again, though this time the weather was mild, more clouds in the sky and less sun beating down on him. It was a much better improvement, though it still couldn’t quell the aching hole in Kyungsoo’s heart or quiet down the dread he felt.

_How was Kyungsoo going to survive like this? With no Chanyeol?_

Day 46

Maybe waiting every day like this was a mistake. 

Chanyeol was never going to come back.

Day 61

Kyungsoo was floating in the ocean again, the stars shining brightly above him. Almost on instinct he turned his head to the left, and let out a gasp when he saw Chanyeol floating beside him. This time his eyes were open, sad, as he stared at Kyungsoo.

“You can’t keep waiting for me,” was the first thing Chanyeol said, his voice to deep and so achingly familiar that it made Kyungsoo’s eyes mist up.

He blinked rapidly, not wanting to see Chanyeol through a blurry haze of tears. “I just want to see you and spend time with you again. Why won’t you come back?” Kyungsoo asked, voice soft and shaking, his hand reaching out, where he was surprised to find that Chanyeol could hold onto it.

Familiar, large fingers laced through his own, nestling between the spaces as if they belonged there. (They did.) 

“Kyungsoo, I can’t come back. I’m gone, you know that. You can feel it in your heart, you need to accept it. Don’t waste your life away waiting for me,” Chanyeol soothed him, calloused thumb rubbing over Kyungsoo’s knuckles. “You’re only 23, Kyungsoo. I’m so sorry I can’t spend 100 years together like we promised. But you have to keep living, for me.”

It was a heartbreak all over again, but in a more cathartic way, more healing. Kyungsoo could feel the holes in his heart gaping open as if he was hearing about Chanyeol being gone for the first time again. But it also felt as if those same wounds were slowly closing up, Chanyeol’s voice soothing the searing ache in a way that only he could do.

“I love you, Chanyeol. I love you so much,” Kyungsoo’s fingers tightened their grip on Chanyeol’s, and a panic grew inside him as the ocean disappearing, dripping just behind the other, as if signaling their time together was almost over, for good.

“I love you too, Kyungsoo. As long as you keep wearing that ring I gave you, I’m never going to be away from you. You’ll always have a piece of me with you,” Chanyeol smiled, soft and sad, his fingers losing their grip on Kyungsoo’s slowly.

Before Kyungsoo could answer, could even stop crying long enough to form anything coherent, the ocean dripped away, taking Chanyeol with it.

Kyungsoo woke in a haze, eyes puffy and cheeks stained wet with tears. Blindly he reached out in the dark to his nightstand, where a sleek silver ring rested exactly where he always laid it. 

His fingers traced over the sound wave etched into the silver, and he could hear as clear as day, Chanyeol’s voice repeating the phrase Kyungsoo himself had told Chanyeol on his birthday.

_“In the next 10, 20, 30, 100 years, let's always be together.”_

It was in that moment that Kyungsoo knew he was going to survive.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm so sorry for this, but i needed a cathartic release to all these angsty, missing chansoo, feelings that i have.
> 
> this fic is heavily _heavily_ inspired by the song ["best friend" by the drums](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpm4eJ6l1n4) and i highly recommend listening to it!
> 
> come yell at me on twitter [@KlTTYSOO](https://twitter.com/KlTTYSOO) or [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/KlTTYSOO) for breaking your heart


End file.
